Pasta

Let’s talk risotto.  Risotto and I have an awkward history. A few Christmases ago, I thought it’d be a fantastic idea to add risotto to our Feast of the Seven Fishes menu. As I was prepping, cooking and juggling five dishes, I started the risotto and between ladling chicken stock in the pot and doing random other things, I totally overcooked it, and it turned into a dry, rubbery, gross mess.  Once I realized I messed up the one dish I was most excited about, I had a breakdown.  A total kitchen breakdown.  My lovely family felt so bad about my breakdown that they ate the gross risotto anyway….as they laughed, of course.  So needless to say, me + risotto = not friends. BUT, me + pasta, risotto style = BFF.  I’ll explain…

There aren’t many recipes that totally transform the way I eat. I mean, I try a lot of stuff and methods to cooking things, but rarely do I ever make a recipe over and over again.  This recipe totally did it for me. It’s the one recipe I repeat at least once a week. Why? It’s super adaptable.  Literally you can put anything you want in it.  Have some scraps from a rotisserie chicken in the fridge? This is the recipe for you.  Have some extra vegetables without a purpose?  Their home is in this dish.  Have that awkward amount of cheese (ricotta, marscapone, etc)?  Put it in this thing. It’s also quick, but at the same time I wouldn’t feel shy about serving this to guests. Basically, it’s a huuuuge step up from the sometimes bowl of cereal I have for dinner.

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